Just a thought

There are many one liners around that stop us in our tracks. Here are a couple of them and how I would finish them. Remember, even if you win the rat race - you're still a rat. Or how about, the early bird catches the worm, - but it’s still a worm. One of the ones I have used over the years is; if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. - because you will be trying for a very long time.
Most of these sayings are there to encourage us and to spur us onto win the fight, race or whatever it happens to be. Other will give us courage. Courage to keep going when we feel it’s not worth the effort. All of these one liners have one thing in common, they are aimed at all of us. Every line will talk to us in some way. We are engaged in the game of life and life sometimes doesn’t go along too easily. At some points we get discouraged, despondent or just prepare to just give up or give in if it wasn’t for one line said to us at just the right time.
When I was young, I purchased a book filled with one liners. These were lines that were actually quotes from famous and not so famous people. The book was called, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. While other kids my age were reading things like, Trustee From The Toolroom, I was slowly and methodically reading through this volume. The tenth edition was published in 1919 after the authors death in 1905. In 2002 they published the 17th edition. Somewhere in my library, that old copy is siting, cover less and forgotten.
Over the years that have followed, I have continued to remember the words of other men and women who had more experienced in life the I. Words like, “The Almighty has his own purposes.” Abraham Lincoln. “None shall rule but the humble, / And none but Toil shall have.” Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Read the Bible. Work hard and honestly. And don’t complain.” - “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” Billy Graham. From Helen Keller, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”
God asked a young man one day to go out every day and push the rock in the middle of the field. The next morning the man, all fired up to do what God asked, rose early and went out to the rock and started to push. The sun rose and then slowly set. The man went back to the house and slept. Still excited about getting to the task at hand, he again went out and pushed all day. This went on for years until, in discouragement, the man stayed in bed after another fruitless day of pushing. God came to him and asked why he was still in bed. Complaining about the aches and pains he told God that it was for nothing. The rock had not moved and he was giving up. God turned to him and said, “I didn’t ask you to move the rock, just to go and push on it. God doesn’t ask us to be successful, just to be faithful.
As we all think of the words of wisdom from those who have gone before us, we realize, we have grown, matured and grown stronger from the experience. Where we have listened and taken their words to heart, our life has been full of accomplishments. My question today is, have you been faithful to God and His words to you?
Something to think about.
Robin